Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research

Institute Brief
The Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research carries out basic molecular biological research on plants. The goal of the Cologne-based scientists is to improve conventional breeding methods and to develop environmentally-friendly plant protection strategies for crops. They focus mainly on the evolution of plants, their genetic blueprint, their development and their interactions with the environment. How does a plant's immune system react to pests, for example? How does the time of flowering depend on the seasonally changing length of the day? How does the genetic variability of crops affect how they adapt to specific environmental influences? The botanists, geneticists and plant physiologists work both in the laboratory and in greenhouses, searching for the molecular basis of natural diversity, and thus make innovative contributions to plant breeding